You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me. – C.S. Lewis

Tag: gluten-free

Hello and Happy May Day! It’s been a while since I last blogged here, so let’s have a small update.

As you know, I’m a community leader for Pressgram, so it was very exciting when it became a featured app in the App Store! Being featured is one of those big mysteries, so it was truly an honour for myself and everyone on the team.

With the rest of the Pressgram team (and some new testers!) I’m currently alpha testing John Saddington’s (the creator of Pressgram) newest app called Desk Publishing Machine that will be for the Mac desktop. You might’ve seen my posts on my other blogs written and published with it. You can keep up to date with the app’s progress, and learn more about it, on its blog. And if you’re interested in alpha testing, click here.

I’m also almost done writing a first draft for a story that I started last month (you might’ve seen my tweet about it), then it’s editing time. I’m keeping details close to my chest for the time being, but I can say that it’s a sort of a short story and I’m hoping to have it illustrated. I’ll be sharing more details in due time on my writing blog, Writer’s Bone, when I’m ready so keep an eye out!

I think it's safe to say now, I've nearly completed the 1st draft of a story I started earlier this month. More details will be forthcoming.

So, those are three things. I’ve also been reading a lot, as usual – currently historical fiction (Hundred Years Wars/Wars of the Roses period) and the real period of history that is the subject of my historical fiction reads as well as Tom Standage’s books about the Turk, a chess-playing automaton, (reviewed here) and the history of the telegraph.

Now, on to the recipe! Since the first day of making these pancakes (about three days ago), we’ve been having them everyday and not just for breakfast but dessert as well. We’ve had them with butter, raspberry jam, although they’re good even plain without condiments.

The batter used is almost the same as the one for the basic gluten-free pancakes, except that I ran out of mochiko flour (sweet rice flour) and instead used what flours I already had and it worked marvellously. In fact, I’d say that the batter for these pancakes are a little bit lighter. They also can be flatter, not having as much rise depending on the power of the baking powder you use. (I ran out of baking powder and the one I’m currently using has monosodium phosphate, which made the pancakes – pictured – a little more fluffy and made them rise a bit more, as well as making bubbles appear in the pancake batter immediately. The baking powder I previously used cream of tartar, I think. You can read more about baking powder here in this helpful post from Jeanne at The Art of Gluten-Free Baking.)

One more thing: the batter becomes a blue-grey colour after a while, after you’ve added the raspberries and chocolate chips, and that’s okay! The pancakes will still look and taste fantastic, as I – and everyone else who’s had these pancakes – can attest.

My favourite part about eating these pancakes? Finding the raspberries inside; the chocolate is a nice compliment to the raspberries’ sweetness. It’s dessert!

Mix the flours and baking powder together in a large bowl or other vessel and create a well in the centre.

Beat the eggs and stir in the coconut milk. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk together until fully mixed. Add honey. Gently stir in the raspberries, then chocolate chips – as you stir, the batter will get pretty pink streaks!

Heat the pan over medium heat. Once the pan’s hot, add a small amount of butter or coconut oil. Scoop small amounts of the batter (generally, 1/6 to 1/3 cup) and pour into the pan per pancake, making sure each pancake gets some raspberries and chocolate chips (generally, one or two to three raspberries per). When bubbles start appearing on the surface and the edges are firm, flip the pancakes and cook until the other side is nicely browned. Repeat until all the batter is used. Note that you may have to stir the batter occasionally, as the chocolate chips sink to the bottom.

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I first borrowed the ebook version of Gluten-Free Baking for the Holidays by Jeanne Sauvage, better known as gluten-free baker extraordinaire at Art of Gluten-Free Baking, last year from my library. When I bought the hardcover last month, I was even more blown away by it; I was amazed by the recipes, and also by Jeanne’s depth of knowledge and expertise.

As implied by the title, Gluten-Free Baking for the Holidays is a cookbook for the winter holidays, such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, but there are some recipes that are versatile for any time of year like the Dinner Rolls and Super Soft Bread. In a similar vein to Sweet Cravings, another gluten-free baking book, the recipes are built on a foundation of classic techniques and use simple, natural ingredients that are easily recognizable and staple items, so that it feels as if one was reading a traditional, wheat-filled baking cookbook. Best of all, they’ve all been meticulously made to not only taste just like their wheat counterparts but even have the same or similar texture and mouthfeel.

I’ve gotten to know Jeanne online, through her blog and conversations on Twitter. I’ve made her recipes on her blog, and now from her cookbook, and they’re all winners! For Christmas, I made her recipe for Pepparkakor (Swedish gingerbread) many times, which everyone loved, and I’ve also made her gluten-free pie crust with success, which has made me want to master pie making (and that I’ve started to do). As I read the introduction in her cookbook, I became more and more duly impressed with her aforementioned expertise. I expressed this on Twitter and was delighted when she said yes to an interview.

I ask Jeanne about the research that went into writing her cookbook, recipe testing, the merits of learning and utilizing classic baking techniques, and the progress of her second cookbook (with a projected release date of Autumn 2015). This interview was conducted over email.

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Hello, hello! As we tread into the last week of the first month of 2014, I hope that you all have had a Happy New Year so far. I have been occupied with Pressgram (as you may be able to tell from my regular tweeting and retweeting – big changes coming soon!) and personal projects, one aspect of which I plan to reveal soon.

I made this soup earlier this month, or during the spell just before New Year’s (it’s all a blur), from a new cookbook I got for Christmas from a friend. Featuring a variety of vegetable-based dishes (okay, vegetarian) from savoury to sweet, with an emphasis on cooking and some baking recipes, this soup was one of the recipes that I immediately bookmarked.